For screenplay submissions and enquiries, please send an email to info [at] cameronsmanagement [dot] com [dot] au.

For submissions of book manuscripts, please read the following guidelines carefully before submitting.

Format: Electronic submissions only - NO ATTACHMENTS.

Address: submissions[at]cameronsmanagement [dot] com [dot] au

Content: Query letter + synopsis + the first 3000 words (approx) of the manuscript in the body of an email message.

What we're looking for

FICTION: Crime, thriller, saga, women's contemporary (whatever that means) … Basically, we're looking for great stories. Often these aren't confined by genres. Unfortunately we are unable to consider fantasy and sci fi/spec fiction manuscripts at this time.

NON-FICTION: Anything except business and other specialist professional manuscripts.

CHILDREN'S: Young adult fiction only.

Some Tips

Don't submit your first draft of anything, especially if you've only just finished it this morning.

The query letter is the first contact we have with you - like it or not, it's important. Some good basic guidelines can be found here.

All agencies receive a lot of queries - to make yours stand out, ensure that your letter and your writing sample are the best they can be. Synopses are a guide to story, not a pitch, and are not as critical.

If you're not sure if you're ready to submit, don't. Wait a while.

For more information about agents in general and this agency in particular, please see our FAQs.

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Frequently asked questions

Please note that the Cameron Creswell Agency does not take responsibility for manuscripts sent for submission.

1. How long will it take you to respond to my email submission?
We try to respond within four weeks. If you haven't heard after eight weeks, feel free to send an email asking us to hurry up.

2. Can I submit to other agents at the same time?
We do not require exclusivity - we expect that authors submit to other agents at the same time as they submit to us. Please tell us in the query letter if you are doing this just so there are no surprises if you tell us that someone else has offered representation.

3. If you ask to see my full manuscript, how long will it take to read?
As we have a large number of manuscripts to read at any one time, it can take several months to read a manuscript and consider it fully. Please note that we prefer to take full manuscript submissions electronically to save paper - if you choose to submit a hard copy instead, we will not be able to return it and will take no responsibility for it.

4. Why can't you read it straightaway?
We have a large number of submissions and full manuscripts to read, in addition to all the other work that goes on in an agency. Even when we really, really want to read your manuscript, we still have to take care of other business.

5. Can I call you to check that my submission has arrived?
Please don't - any time we take to check is time that we are not spending on reading.

6. Can I call you to check whether you've read my submission or not?
Please don't - we read submissions as fast as we can, but are unable to respond to 'hurry-up' phone calls. We do understand how anxious you are to hear news - everyone is!

7. What makes a submission stand out from the rest?
As you only have one shot at submitting to an agency (just as you only have one shot at submitting to a publisher), your manuscript should be the best it can be when you submit. Your first draft will never be your best draft - most published writers go through several drafts of a manuscript before anyone sees it. Also, it is difficult to make publishers see the value in a manuscript if the author themselves has not put value into it. Spend time on the drafting, and seek help and advice from places such as Varuna - The Writers House. If being a published author is important to you, surely you want to give that opportunity the best possible chance of coming to fruition?
     It also helps to write a good query letter - any written communication from you is representative of the way you write. If your cover letter contains mistakes, is hard to understand or just generally unstructured, we'll assume the rest of your writing is like that. We are looking for authors we would be happy to present to publishers, and part of that is looking for how much care is taken by you each step of the way. Please also don't tell us that you are the best unpublished writer in the world - show us by the way you write.

8. Will you give me some advice on making my manuscript better?
We are unable to offer editorial advice on manuscripts at submission stage. The best general advice we can give, though, is to say 'be patient and keep writing'. A lot of writers' first novel published is not the first one they wrote - often it's the fourth or fifth. Writing is a craft and a job requiring a lot of time, dedication, skill and practice, just like any creative endeavour.

9. Should I use a manuscript assessment agency?
Manuscript assessment agencies can be valuable if they provide constructive editorial feedback and some agencies are better at this than others. Generally, though, it is your writing we will pay attention to rather than a report from a manuscript assessor.

10. What do agents actually do?
Generally speaking, agents help writers find publishers (and vice versa) and manage that relationship, freeing writers to concentrate on the creative part of their job. More specifically, a typical day can involve:
· meeting with an author
· meeting with a publisher
· phone calls
· reviewing a contract
· many emails from authors and publishers about all sorts of things
· submitting manuscripts to publishers
· writing proposals
· answering queries about submissions
· liaising with our subagents overseas
· checking in with authors who have a deadline looming
· writing an editorial report on a manuscript
· trying to keep abreast of what's selling and what's new

Reading manuscripts and submissions has to be fitted in around these tasks.

11. Why do I need an agent?
Most Australian trade publishers prefer to take submissions from agents, rather than directly from the public, as they simply don't have the time or capacity to find new authors themselves. So an agent helps their writer find a publisher - hopefully the right publisher! The agent also acts as an intermediary, to give the author guidance about the publishing process (if they're new) and deal with any issues that arise. Ideally we free up authors to concentrate on the creative part of their job, and negotiate the best deal for them with a publisher.

12. Do you charge anything?
We don't charge any fees to read submissions - all costs of reading and considering submissions and manuscripts are borne by the agency. If you become a client of the agency, we charge a standard commission rate.

13. I need some advice about writing and getting published - can I call your agency?
We are unable to give advice to writers who are not already represented by us. We recommend you contact a writers' centre in your state.

14. I need some information about publishing - where can I go?
The Australian Society of Authors is a good place to start. There are also several websites - mainly out of the US - which have lots of information about how to get published. Several of these are blogs written by agents or people working in agencies. We recommend the following: